1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording medium on which information can be recorded, especially an information recording medium on which at least one of audio information and still picture information can be recorded; and a recording apparatus, an editing apparatus, a reproduction apparatus, a recording method, an editing method, and a reproduction method for use with the information recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the invention of various types of compression encoding techniques and rapid proliferation of the internet technology, a great number of electronic music distribution systems have recently been introduced into service. Owing to the use of compression encoding techniques such as, for example, MP3, these systems can distribute song information to users within an appropriate length of time, even using a network having narrow bandwidth. Recently, some systems distribute still picture information and/or text information together with the song information as one content. In this specification, the expression “song information” encompasses information representing songs with or without lyrics.
Referring to FIG. 13, it is assumed that a content 300 is distributed including song information 310, three pieces of still picture information 311, 312 and 313, and text information on, for example, a song title and lyrics 314 and 315. On a user's terminal, three still pictures like pages of the booklet contained in, for example, a CD case are displayed one by one while the song information 310 is being reproduced. The song title is displayed in a song menu screen. Such a content is generally recorded on an information recording medium of the user as follows. First, the song information is recorded, and then the still picture information and the text information corresponding to the song information are recorded in association with the recorded song information.
It is expected that an album content including a plurality of such contents will be distributed in the future. Referring to FIG. 14, an album content 320, for example, includes pieces of song information 330 through 332, pieces of still picture information 333 through 340, pieces of text information 342 through 346, album still picture information 347 such as an album jacket which represents the entire album content, and text information 341 which represents an album title or the like. The album still picture information 347 and the text information 341 are used as information to be referred to regarding the album content. For example, the album still picture, the album title and the like are displayed in a menu screen displayed while the album content is being reproduced.
In the case where a great number of pieces of song information are recorded on one information recording medium, the user may create a play list and reproduce his/her favorite pieces of song information in his/her favorite order. As shown in FIG. 15, a play list includes at least one piece of song information selected from a plurality of pieces of song information 351 through 356 recorded on the information recording medium (a play list 361 includes a plurality of pieces of song information 353, 351, and 356), and defines the order of reproduction thereof. When the play list 361 is reproduced, song information 353, song information 351, and song information 356 are reproduced in this order. The user may create another play list, for example, a play list 362 including a plurality of pieces of song information 355 and 352. When creating a plurality of play lists, the user can select the play list he/she wishes to reproduce in accordance with the situation.
It is also possible to reproduce song information from an information recording medium which is different from the information recording medium on which the song information was first recorded. For example, it is possible to first record an album content, recorded on a CD or distributed by electronic distribution, on a DVD-RAM and then record a part of the plurality of pieces of song information selected from the album content on an SD (Secure Digital) memory card. In this case, the user can listen to the songs recorded on the SD memory card away from home. The song information recorded on the DVD-RAM can be recorded on the SD memory card using “transfer” means. “Transfer” refers to copying song information, recorded on an original information recording medium, on another information recording medium and then deleting the copied song information from the original information recording medium. The “transfer” means allows the user to listen to the songs in various places.
Currently, there is a demand for a system for recording and reproducing song information, distributed by an electronic distribution system, by a consumer apparatus. For example, it is conceived to record and reproduce the distributed song information by a consumer-use audio recorder/player. A distributed album content may be recorded on a DVD-RAM. For performing such recording and reproduction, the following information editing and information creation processes are necessary. With the conventional recording formats applied to information recording mediums, it is impossible to perform such information editing and information creation procedures.
An album content which is distributed by electronic distribution is created with a certain creative intention of its distributor regarding the selected pieces of song information and the order of reproduction. Therefore, it is desirable that the user is prohibited from editing the album content, for example, from dividing, combining, and deleting one or more pieces of song information included in the album content and from changing the order of reproduction. Accordingly, when recording a distributed album content on a DVD-RAM, namely, when recording a play list formed of all the pieces of song information in the album content on a DVD-RAM, it is necessary to prohibit the play list from being edited. However, when the user transfers such song information included in the album content to an SD memory card or the like for reproduction, the song information recorded on the DVD-RAM needs to be deleted. In consideration of the “transfer”, it is desirable that the editing processing of deleting the song information is not prohibited.
The user may create a play list by selecting arbitrary pieces of song information recorded on an information recording medium such as a DVD-RAM or the like. For the private use of the user, it is desirable not to prohibit the user from editing the created play list, for example, from dividing, combining, and deleting one or more pieces of song information included in the play list, changing the order of reproduction of the pieces of song information, and adding a new piece of song information. In order to appropriately prohibit or permit editing of the play list, it is desirable that the play list is identified as an album content or as including one or more pieces of song information arbitrarily selected by the user.
Referring to FIG. 16, a user may create play lists 363, 364, etc. by selecting arbitrary pieces of information from a plurality of pieces of song information 371 through 376 included in a plurality of album contents 321 through 323. Displaying information indicating which album content includes each of the selected pieces of song information, can provide the user with a new way of enjoying music. Specifically, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 12, it is desirable to display an album still picture of the album content 322 including the song 373 while the song information 373 in the play list 363 is being reproduced, if the user wishes. In order to realize this, when the song information and the still picture information in the album content are recorded on an information recording medium, the album still picture needs to be associated with the song information. In addition, still pictures displayed one by one while the song information is being reproduced need to be distinguished from the album still picture.